


when the witnesses are gone

by phantomlistener



Category: Silk (TV)
Genre: Dancing, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-07
Updated: 2016-05-07
Packaged: 2018-06-06 23:59:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6775660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phantomlistener/pseuds/phantomlistener
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Martha doesn't dance.  Well, not properly, anyway - until Caroline intervenes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	when the witnesses are gone

"Can you dance?"

The question comes out of the blue, forthright and curious, just as Caroline is putting her mug in the dishwasher. She turns, raises an eyebrow. "Can I dance?"

"Yeah." Martha shrugs, shifts on the sofa to turn fully towards her. "You know. Waltzing and stuff. Can you do it?"

"Why-" She moves round the counter into the living room, heels precise on the wooden floorboards, and eyes Martha with helpless amusement. "Yes, darling," she says eventually. "Can't everybody? And why on earth are you even asking?"

"Just the music." She gestures over to the corner, where the gentle beat of a waltz is playing from the elaborate hi-fi system, and then her smile turns mischievous. "And the fact that you were humming the tune."

"I was  _not_ ." Caroline looks vaguely scandalised, amusement becoming disbelief. "And anyway, you still haven't answered my question: can't you? Didn't you learn it in school or something?"

"At school?  _My_ school?" She laughs. "God no. And anyway, I'd be terrible. No sense of rhythm."

"I don't believe you." One hand on the counter, Caroline slips off her shoes, extends the other hand to Martha. "Prove it."

"No, no, Caroline-"

"Come on. Come here."

Reluctantly, Martha stands up, moves close enough for Caroline to grab her wrist and pull her in close against her body.

"Now." Caroline's arms wrap intimately around her neck. "It's not difficult, I promise."

"Says you." But she slides her own arms around Caroline's waist, and they're pressed so close that there's barely an atom of empty space between them.

"Do what I do," Caroline says softly, and begins to count out the steps underneath her breath -  _one, two, three, one, two, three_ \- so near to Martha that she has no choice but to do the same. 

But despite everything, despite the music, and Caroline's guidance, and the steady soft count of numbers, Martha moves awkwardly, manages a nervous laugh as her bare feet half tangle with Caroline's and they struggle to stay upright. "I told you," she says, hands tight on Caroline's waist. "I can't do it."

"You just need to relax a bit."

"I  _can't_ ," Martha insists, frustrated. "Why can't you just accept that I'm really shit at this?"

"Because you're not," Caroline says, and one of her hands slides into Martha's hair, gently pulls her down until their lips meet in a soft, tender kiss that lingers for every last possible second. "I told you," she says eventually. "You just need to relax."

Martha sighs, fits her body closer to Caroline's. "Relaxed."

"Now dance with me," Caroline breathes, and almost unconsciously Martha's movements slow into the merest shuffle of feet, their bodies swaying to the flowing tempo of the waltz that's still playing. Martha's head drops down on to Caroline's shoulder, lips automatically seeking the base of her throat, kissing softly against her skin at every first beat of the triple time and moving up, up to the line of her jaw and along to meet her lips.

The dancing stops as they kiss, gentle, undemanding; when they finally separate, Caroline smiles up at her, run her hand across to cup her cheek. "See? You can do anything."

"With you," Martha breathes, soft enough to deny she's ever said it, and kisses her again.

 

 


End file.
